The Stallion Scoop: 6Apr17

The Principal Chronicles continue.......The final countdown has begun to the end of the year. The next few months are super busy trying to fit everything in and then, just like that, it will be summertime. From the stories I've heard, it sounds like the students had a lot of fun over spring break. Since it was our last two-week spring break ever, I guess that is a good thing. On a side note, I had several students travel to Nebraska over break and went to their zoo. All of the students said the same thing, the Omaha zoo is the number one rated zoo in the country. Seriously?? I didn't know that. I thought that distinction belonged to the San Diego Zoo. Then again, if you can put a Sea World in Cleveland, why can't the best zoo in the country be in Nebraska?

As for my clan of misfits, we had quite a few adventures. One of the main adventures was tackling the dog park at Chatfield state park. We got a new dog a while ago and since he consistently destroys the house when we are gone, we thought we would get a park pass and get some of his wiggles out at the dog park. Turns out the park is HUGE, complete with two lakes for your dog to get completely soaked and covered in mud. So I took the girls, the dog, about 300 dog treats and headed out. Just imagine dog-topia and this is what it would look like. Dogs everywhere, of all sizes, going nuts. Our dog was gone the minute we took his leash off. I actually think my girls got just as much energy out chasing the dog as our dog did chasing all of the other dogs. Then our dog magically located the mud. How a dog can be completely covered in mud in less than 11 seconds is nothing less than a miracle. Of course, once he was covered in mud we couldn't get him to go BACK into the water to clean himself up. After 93 minutes of fun and excitement, the back seat of my car looked like a dirt and dog hair bomb went off. Awesome.

The other big adventure we took was to Earth Treks which is a rock climbing gym in Golden. Actually, a rock climbing gym doesn't do it justice, this place was enormous and people were literally hanging around all over the place. So when you pay your money you get one of their staff members to belay you for three climbs, your choice of around 300 billion climbing routes. As most of my loyal readers know, my two daughters are VERY different. My oldest scaled her first climb in about four seconds. (Note to self: when paying for only three climbs-make said climbs a lot harder). Then my younger daughter's turn came. First, it took us about twenty minutes to decide which route to climb (turned out to be the easiest one in the gym) - (Disclaimer: I did not win father of the year at any point during this outing). Once we finally got her roped in and ready, she burst into tears. I felt like I was looking into the movie Inside Out with all of the different emotions pushing buttons in her brain. After an astronomical amount of time, we finally got her on the wall. Funny thing, I think we set several world records on that climb. We set (in no particular order) - World's Slowest Ascent, Most Tears Shed During Said Ascent, Number of times the Words "I hate this", "I can't do this", and "this is stupid" Were Said During an Ascent, and finally Fastest Change in Emotion After a Successful Climb. All in all, it was a fun trip even though I left with more gray hair than when I started and I will definitely not divulge any of the actual conversations I had with my youngest and myself during our tenure at Earth Treks.

That is it for this week. Until next time when the Principal Chronicles continues....

For her birthday, one of our first grade students, Sophia, chose to collect and donate school supplies to Children's Hospital rather than have a party with presents. She was able to collect over $500 in supplies. Thanks for all your donations and thanks to Sophia for her generous spirit!

Student Council will be hosting a cake walk during our Game Night on April 28th. Tickets are $1 each. Come enjoy the fun!

"Sonshine" Soiree: CTE's first Mother/Son dance will be Saturday, May 6th from 5:30pm - 8:00pm. The cost for admission is $15/person and includes a flower for each boy to give to his mom. Pizza & soda will be available for an extra charge and there will even be a visit from Batman and Spiderman. Please click on the link to register and bring cash (preferred) or check to pay at the door. If you have questions contact Kristi Harvey, the chair of this event. We hope to see all the CTE mothers & sons dance the night away! This event is open to the Parker community, so if you know someone else who would like to attend, please pass this information along. We are also seeking volunteers to help at this event. This would be a great opportunity for middle school or high school students to earn their community service hours. Click on the link to let us know how you can help.

American Furniture Warehouse Event: Who is shopping for a new mattress, couch, bedroom set, dinning room furniture, or home decor? AFW will donate a percentage of your purchase back to CTE for every purchase you make at any time! Use the school code CTES65 when making your purchase in the store or online. There will also be a special event from April 28th - May 7th that will support our school! Look for the flyer to come home in Thursday folders with more information.

FROM TECH - ANNA HYLTON
As a follow up to Mr. Miller's reminder letter this week about lightning policy - here is the procedure for opting in to having important messages texted to your mobile phone.

HOW DO I OPT IN FOR TEXT MESSAGE NOTIFICATIONS? (back to top)
The IC Parent Portal has the capability to send text messages. In cases where families need to be contacted immediately, a text message can be sent by the CTE office. Not everyone has unlimited texting or wants to receive school related texts. For this reason we are asking interested parents to opt in, if they want to receive text messages.
If you are interested in this messaging system:
1. log into Parent Portal
2. go to the Contact Preferences
- for each phone# listed, select the check box if you want texts to be sent
- click Save
3. if your cell phone is not in the list, please contact the office with this information
Weekly correspondence will continue to be sent out via email - text messaging will be reserved for emergencies and time-sensitive situations.

TGA makes it convenient and fun for your child to learn and play tennis right on their school campus! Our proprietary curriculums for elementary school and middle school were created by TGA's education experts and the United States Tennis Association (USTA). Students will experience a mix of tennis instruction, rules & etiquette lessons, educational components, character development lessons and physical activity as they advance through the five-level program. Our screened and certified instructors have a passion for working with children and are trained to help your student athlete develop a strong foundation of skills and knowledge as well as a passion for the sport.

Hi Cherokee Trail Families!
The Field Day Tee Shirt Sale is currently underway! Order forms were sent home on Thursday, April 6th so please check backpacks. This year tee shirt orders can be placed online at https://cherokee.itemorder.com or by filling out the paper form and sending it to school along with payment. I hope that everyone chooses to order a shirt this year. We have a fun field day logo and everyone always looks great out there on the day of our Field Day event wearing their tees!
The deadline to order is Friday, April 21st …… so don’t wait, order today!
Thank you in advance for your support!
Cherokee Trail, PE Dept.
_____________________________________________________________The last of the 6 week long Dance classes at CTE begins on April 27th (flyer): Viral DanceClick HEREto register. Cost $162 for 6 sessions.

District News

Last month, the Board of Education passed a resolution tasking the Superintendent to convene a task force inclusive of members of the general public and staff members. This task force will develop a survey for parents of students eligible for special education services and a survey for staff members who serve students eligible for special education services.

CASTLE ROCK - On February 6, the Douglas County School District (DCSD) Board of Education confirmed its commitment to begin the process of seeking approval from voters for additional local funding.

“Our children need a bond and mill levy override (MLO) to be passed in 2018, beyond any doubt,” said DCSD Board of Education President David Ray. “We want to move forward immediately with the necessary processes and collaboration with our community in order to finalize a formal funding package.”

Eleven Douglas County School District schools have been named recipients of the 2017 John Irwin Schools of Excellence Awards. The John Irwin awards are given to schools that demonstrate exceptional academic achievement over time. These schools received an "Exceeds Expectations" rating on the Academic Achievement indicator of the School Performance Frameworks reflecting exceptional performance in Math, English Language Arts, and Science.